It's been a while since I last posted my entry to the Where In The World Challenge, but here I am at it again and today we're visiting the United Kingdom. I wasn't very original this time. My inspiration has been the Queen's foot guard, with their funny fluffy hats and elegant red coats.

I started this mani with some red polish. I wanted it to be a British polish so I used Illamasqua - Whack as my base color. Whack is described by Illamasqua as "Vivid tangerine orange with glossy finish". To say this is accurate? Nope. I can't say so. To me Whack looks like a very warm red, maybe it's leaning to deep orange. It doesn't have a glossy finish at all. I wouldn't say it was matte either. Maybe rubber is the closest word to describe it.
The formula was thin and needed care and attention when applying. While it is easy to apply thin coats and the polish levels itself nicely with every coat, you have to be very careful not to use too much polish on your brush or you will end with flooded cuticles. Drying time was very quick so the wait between the coats was not long at all. In the picture below you can see how it looks without any top coat. There is a certain shine but this is not what I call glossy finish. Still, I think it's a gorgeous color.

At first I tried to do the lines of this design with some tape, but it just didn't work right. So I used a striping brush to draw the lines and then a small brush to fill the larger parts with polish. I just created some hints of this guard: the fluffy hat that covers most of the face, the red jacket with the golden buttons and the white wide belt. The polishes I used are: black - China Glaze Liquid Leather, white - Milani White On The Spot and gold - China Glaze Passion. So what do you think, would you guess my inspiration if I didn't tell you?

Cute! - I can see the British Royal Guard here - but also can see it as an inspiration mani of the Canadian Royal Mounties uniforms as well too - it does double duty! Not a fan of rubber finishes - the few I have I reached right for that glossy top coat!